Familiar Friend
by DeathDrayanD
Summary: An AU where Pyrrha gets to live a little longer. As a last ditch effort, she goes to... Weiss? Plot by the admin of the RWBY Academy Facebook page, Weiss. Rated T for Terribly-sorry for-y'all-to-experience Pyrrha's-death-again. WARNING: Contains some suicidal ideations and sad death. You have been warned.
1. chapter 1

**An AU where Pyrrha gets to live a little longer. As a last-ditch effort, she goes to... Weiss? Plot by the admin of the RWBY Academy Facebook page, Weiss. Rated T for Terribly-sorry for-y'all-to-experience Pyrrha's-death-again.**

 **I've altered it to make more sense into the story.**

 **Experimenting with 3rd person perspectives and POV shifts, since I mostly write in 1st person.**

* * *

"Do you believe in destiny?"

Cinder frowned, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes," she said with utmost certainty.

Cinder stood back up and formed an obsidian bow and arrow again. She pulled the arrow back, lowering the bow to aim at her weakened opponent.

Pyrrha was absolutely frightened; her breathing erratic. Several thoughts flooded her mind. Escape was the primal. She wanted to run. She wanted to dodge the arrow and beat that monster of a woman. But she wanted to win. She wanted to see her dead, for everything she caused.

Yet, her logical mind said otherwise. She couldn't win. She was out of aura. Out of energy. It ached all around. She couldn't move. Her body wouldn't let her.

So much for the 'invincible girl'.

Pyrrha closed her eyes, accepting the fate that awaited her. The arrow loosened. Fate toyed with her as time slowed to a crawl. Pyrrha took that time to think about her crush. Her lover. The sensation of his lips upon hers. She could almost feel the touch they had. One last thought came to her mind.

I love you, Jaune.

Time resumed, and Pyrrha felt as if hot magma was poured into her chest, followed by stinging pain. It was too much to take. A short gasp managed to escape her lips before she sunk into oblivion.

Cinder walked away from the dying body with pride, twirling said body's crown. A slow, torturous death for the so-called 'invincible girl'. She chuckled. How fitting.

She then grabbed her scroll - which was tightly placed in a melted crack and encased in her obsidian for good measure - and pressed a couple of buttons. She reviewed the footage and smiled.

"Two souvenirs for my master plan," she hummed, keeping her scroll back into her pocket. Salem would highly praise her. Watts wouldn't have anything to say.

She hopped off the tower, using the - no - her maiden powers to descend to the ground floor. The Dragon Grimm followed close behind her, flapping its mighty wings.

Suddenly, a bullet rocketed towards her mid-flight. She deflected it with ease. She looked down at her assailant. Red, as what Roman Torchwick called her. Behind her was the Schnee heiress, keeping the Grimm at bay with an open dome of ice. She knew it wouldn't hold for long. Red kept shooting at her.

Cinder smirked. Such futile attempts. She incinerated all of them at once and landed inside the ice dome, purposefully melting some of it. The Grimm Dragon landed in a more unfashionable way, trying to land on the ice crystals, cracking them, but then decided that the ground was a better platform instead.

"Stay," commanded Cinder. The Dragon obliged, somewhat subdued. The Grimm continued using whatever they could to make their way in. The Dragon did nothing but watch, like a puppy awaiting commands from its master. How adorable.

Red made a battle cry and charged at Cinder; her sniper now transformed into a scythe. Cinder blocked it with Pyrrha's crown. Red's silver eyes widened in shock. She immediately recoiled back to her original position. Her weapon was still aimed at Cinder, albeit with shaking hands.

"Where's Pyrrha!? What did you do to her!?" she screamed, on the verge of tears.

"Don't you worry, child. She is merely enjoying her death." Cinder then placed the crown on her head, relishing the moment of being Queen. Oh, how she always wanted to be one.

"W-what?"

"Do you need proof?"

Before waiting for a reply, Cinder tossed her scroll right in front of Red's feet. It replayed the last part of the battle in full volume. Again. And again. Looping.

"No..." Red breathed weakly, dropping to her knees. Cinder grinned sadistically.

"Ruby! What happened? What did she say to you? Ugh..." Cracks were eating away Weiss' prison of ice. She stabbed her weapon into the ground again. More chunks of ice surrounded them, closer this time.

"Pyrrha... No... Not her too..." Red sobbed uncontrollably, hugging her small frame in small breaths.

Good, Cinder thought. Let her suffer. Let them all know that their star pupil — Ozpin's star pupil — was nothing compared to her.

But then...

"PYRRHA!"

White wing-like lights gushed out of the girl's eyes. It was blinding. Painful. She couldn't think straight. Her consciousness was fading. The Grimm Dragon screeched as if it was in pain. She thought she heard the Schnee say something. Only one word slipped out of her mouth; shock overcoming her very body.

"WHAT!?"

* * *

Pyrrha was awakened by a piercing roar. Her eyes snapped open, but it was blinded by a brilliant white light. She instinctively shut them.

This must be it. It's the afterlife. She was dead.

But when she opened her eyes, after some adjustments to her vision, she was at the same place where she 'died'. It was quiet. Too quiet. Where was all the Grimm? What happened while she was out?

Pyrrha took her 'first' breath of air, but that was a mistake. Her chest stung and burned. She collapsed again onto the floor; her back now facing the sky.

She felt something sharp on her hands. She looked down. Glass fragments. The arrow was gone, she realized. Its remains left cuts on her palms. They weren't healing. Her aura was out. Something was preventing it from healing. The burning sensation in her chest was still there.

Pyrrha painfully pieced the glass together to vaguely make out her reflection. She saw orange glowing cracks sprouting from the middle of her chest, where the arrow was shot. Even her breastplates were cracking along. There was no blood leaking. It was agonizing. Every breath. Every movement. It flared up her entire body.

What in Remnant did that woman do?

She was dying. That was certain. But what should she do when she's at death's door? Lay there? No! She needed to get out of here. But where?

Jaune? No, she had already said her goodbyes to him. She didn't want to break his heart yet another time. The rest of her team? Hell if she knows where they were. Team RWBY? Don't know.

Carved instinct told her anywhere but here. So she did. She staggered towards the longer third of Miló and intact Akoúo ̱ and used the spear as a walking stick. She made the mistake of rushing, which caused the cracks to quicken its process, stretching it to her entire torso. Pyrrha immediately stopped, and carefully took smaller, slower steps. It was still cracking, but it wasn't as fast as before. Rather, it was extremely slow. She immediately understood how it works.

She eyed down at the entrance she had used to get to Cinder. The elevator was blown to bits. All that's left was a giant hole. There were no stairs. Funny how the school didn't implement them for emergencies. She dragged a few debris down to the hole with her foot and strained her ears to listen.

Nothing. No sound. Not even a single thud. Pyrrha's choices slimmed to a mere one. There was no other way to go down. She had no sharp objects to climb down, and even if she did, she lacked the strength to do so. It was going to be quite the drop.

She had done this before. But now she didn't even have Aura to protect her. She can't complain in this situation.

Have to position it right. Calculate the angles. Analyze the trajectory. Ignore the pain.

She nodded. It should work. Maybe. Probably. Placing Akoúo behind the edge of the hole, she squeezed her entire body onto it, locking herself into place with her feet in the handle and slowly moving the shield forward with Miló on her master hand.

Pyrrha chuckled dryly. Who knew that one of her side hobbies could potentially save her from this situation.

She looked down. Only one more push. One small nudge forward to either plunge to her death or find someone to save her. Honestly, she had no idea whether anyone even knows what this was. But somehow, deep inside, she felt... hopeful.

It was... strange. Her thoughts were usually not like this. Nevertheless, she clutched on to that glimmer, distracting herself with calculations and strategies. And with that resolve, Pyrrha moved forward, and skid down into the abyss.

The moment gravity pulled her down, the first action she wanted was to balance her own weight, not immediately throw up. But she did. Toxic waste spilled out of her mouth, robbing away her eyesight.

She never expected the pressure to be that strong without aura. She had already miscalculated.

Pyrrha felt the cracks creeping further. She had to stop. No, she had to slow down. With all the strength her right arm could muster, she stabbed Akoúō into solid surface.

For a split second, she stopped accelerating. Arm fully outstretched, feet still locked in shield. There was a loud sizzle. Her right arm felt numb. Then, she was falling down again.

It took Pyrrha far too long to realize what had happened. She couldn't feel it. She didn't want to believe it. Yet, she had to see to believe. While wiping off the bile-stained on her face with her other hand, a few thoughts swam on her mind.

Maybe it wasn't that bad. Maybe it was just my imagination. Maybe everything was a dream. Maybe it's okay.

She turned right. Her right arm was gone. Vanished. Red speckles of light protruded out of her once-attached arm, smelling of smoke.

She couldn't hold it in anymore. The fear she had withheld burst forth.

Pyrrha screamed.

But she didn't have the luxury of screaming her heart out. Gravity cut her off, striking her legs onto the ground. She choked out a gasp. Another sizzle, but louder this time. She was hugging the floor in the next instant. Her body was severely burning up. Tears leaked out uncontrollably.

She wanted to die. She wanted to just lie there and let her body vanish. She wanted it all to stop. But she couldn't. Every breath was met with searing pain. Every painful moment fueled her will to live. She didn't like it at all. Why was destiny so cruel to her?

"Help... Please help me..." It was her voice. The voice of Pyrrha Nikos. Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl. Pyrrha Nikos, the prodigy. Pyrrha Nikos, the one who fell in love with Jaune Arc.

Jaune Arc. Jaune.

Oh no.

What if Jaune saw her in this state? What would happen to him? He would... He would die. Not physically, but mentally and emotionally.

No. She didn't want Jaune to be a walking corpse.

No. She wanted him to have a happy life. She had to make herself useful to him. She can't let her own death destroy him.

Yes. She had to make her life worth it.

Yes. She had to die in a way to help Jaune. But how?

Pyrrha squeezed out her memories of Beacon, trying her utmost best to remember... There!

The information she had read. The conversation she had. With Weiss. Weiss was the catalyst. She needed to find Weiss. Pyrrha now had a clear goal in mind; one that would potentially save everyone.

Driven by determination, she dragged her body forward. The ground was full of rubble, but she forcibly ignored them and the cracks. She had to get to Weiss. She must.

Her vision was blurred, but she didn't care. As long as she finds a stark white figure.

But Pyrrha didn't even need to find her. Destiny showed her the light. Weiss was in front. Far away, but visible. Then, a flash of pastel green appeared beside Weiss. It went past her and towards a dark red figure, dragging it away. They both disappeared out of sight.

She wanted to call Weiss, to grab her attention, but the cracks spread further when she tried; stretching around her throat. She could feel it peeling off. Not skin, but flesh. Pieces of them, scattering away.

Silent crawling it was.

* * *

 **Was supposed to be a one-shot, but ideas keep expanding, so changes and adjustments had to be made.**

 **TL; DR: Wrote too much.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yo, I'm back. Hope y'all enjoy this suffer induced chapter. Don't hate me for this. I've already warned y'all in the synopsis.**

* * *

"...Please wake up."

No reaction. Ruby Rose, her team leader, was still. No breaths. No heartbeat.

Weiss tried again, breathing life through Ruby's mouth. It had to get to her lungs. It had to get to her heart. Anywhere vital. It had to. It must. She placed her hands on Ruby's chest and pumped repeatedly yet again; sweat and tears once more dripping on the young leader's clothes.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!" Mouth to mouth. Check heartbeat. Nothing.

Weiss didn't even know why she was counting aloud. She could already memorize standard procedure. But it sounded hopeful, so she didn't stop. She kept going.

"One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Eight! Nine! Ten! Please!" Mouth. Heartbeat.

Still nothing.

She had repeated this more than ten times — she lost count after ten — and was already out of strength. Weiss collapsed, gasping in rapid breaths and regulating her breathing. Endurance was definitely not her forte.

Looking down to her scroll again, which was laying on the floor beside her, she checked the Aura meter of Ruby. Unlike her own, there was no red bar. It was still zero. No Aura. No protection.

 _Was Ruby...?_

No. Weiss absolutely refused to acknowledge that. No, she isn't. She couldn't. Wouldn't.

She had no idea what she had witnessed before or why it did happen. Ruby and her fighting Grimm. Too many. Made an ice dome while Ruby shot them off. Heard Cinder's voice, but had to keep the wall strong. Ruby had mumbled something. A flash of light. Weiss heard — what she assumed it was — Ruby's body drop. When the light had ended, so had the Grimm, with the exception of a petrified dragon. They were nowhere to be seen. Not even a growl or roar. Weiss had released her wall. Found Ruby unconscious. Cinder wasn't there anymore— a bronze crown took her place — but she had heard footsteps moving away. She had ignored those and rushed straight to Ruby's aid, trying to wake her up with CPR.

Now, she was too tired to continue. She wasn't out of breath yet, but her muscles ached like hell. She had to do something else, something that wouldn't need much effort.

In the depths of her stressed mind, an idea emerged. She carefully placed Ruby's head on her lap, as she presumed that lying on the cold hard ground with an even colder body would do no good. Her body needed warmth, and Weiss was the only living thing around that could provide any.

Weiss softly stroked Ruby's hair. When her fingers accidentally touched her eyes, it stung like a boiling kettle. She recoiled her fingers in shock. What was that? A sort of side effect? Why only the eyes?

She had no idea.

What should she do? Wait for help? Could help even find her? She tried to rack for answers in her smart but tired Schnee brain. So many questions, so little answers.

Strangely enough, her mind strayed to a dating magazine her father had forced her to read. If she could recall correctly, it had said to either hum or sing a tune to soothe the person lying down. So, she did. Weiss Schnee, the Schnee heiress, the 'Ice Queen', began to hum for Ruby Rose, her partner and leader; with Weiss silently singing the lyrics in her head.

 _"Years of scorn will leave you cold,_  
 _'Forget your dreams do what you're told'._  
 _When disapproval's all you're shown,_  
 _The safest place becomes alone."_

 _"And isolation's,_  
 _The price you pay;_  
 _And every friendship,_  
 _Is pushed away."_

 _"But bit by bit now,_  
 _A step each day;_  
 _I'm slowly starting,_  
 _To find — "_

A clank interrupted. Weiss snapped out of her trance and scanned her surroundings, both scared and hopeful. Was it help? Was it danger? She didn't know. Weiss clutched on to Myrtenaster.

She focused on the sound. Another clank, and another, and another. It sounded almost rhythmic. The source came from... her right! Her head jerked toward it.

She couldn't believe her eyes.

Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl, was dragging her body with just one arm. Her legs and right arm were gone. Red glowing cracks were visible on her only arm and face. They were spreading slowly in every movement she took.

Weiss was speechless. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, unable to utter a word.

 _...What the hell?!_

"Weiss," Pyrrha gasped in between breaths. "Please... Kill me."

A clang of metal. It took Weiss a moment to realize she had dropped Myrtenaster. And it took her another to reply to the unfathomable request Pyrrha just made.

"I'm – I'm sorry?"

"Remember... your oath?"

The instant that last word reached her ears, everything clicked into place. JNPR using Team RWBY's bathroom. Her using it first. Pyrrha reading her notes about her Semblance. Them discussing it. And...

Weiss swearing to kill Pyrrha.

"I..." Tears welled up in her eyes as she shook her head. "I don't want to do it. I can't."

How could she?

"Weiss... _Please._.."

Is she going to kill Pyrrha Nikos?

"No..."

"I don't..."

Could she do it?

"No..."

"...want to..."

Must she do it?

"No!"

"...die... like this..."

Should she do it?

"NO!"

"..."

The more Pyrrha talked, the heavier Weiss felt. Her body, her heart, everything. She wanted to throw up. She wanted to forget.

Forget the oath. Forget Pyrrha Nikos. Forget Team JNPR. Forget Team RWBY. Forget Beacon Academy. Forget her father. Forget the Schnee family.

Forget herself.

But she couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, she just... couldn't. It was as if a force — a force stronger than her own willpower — was preventing her from doing so. Weiss Schnee knew it all too well. She had lived with it for practically her entire life.

 _Pride._

 _Pride_ was at stake. Ha. Her in the past would be ecstatic and honored to carry out an oath to the young champion. A prodigy to a prodigy. Now...

Now, it was painful. Regretful. She shouldn't have done it. She shouldn't have tucked that worry at the back of her mind. She should've been more suspicious, warier. But it was all too late. She had already done it. She hadn't only promised Pyrrha. She had sworn an oath. She couldn't go back now. She wanted to, but she couldn't. It shouldn't be a want, but a need. She /needed/ to do this.

All because Pyrrha made her do it.

No, that was wrong. She shouldn't put the blame on to Pyrrha. Pyrrha had requested, and she accepted. That was all. Nothing more, nothing less.

But before she could fulfill the request, she had to first make sure Ruby was safe to be left alone. Who knows what would happen to her while her back was turned to face Pyrrha. What if the Grimm Dragon broke free? What if Cinder came back? What if a third party decided to take her out? Weiss didn't want to risk it.

She wiped her tears. She didn't need to check her Aura with her scroll. Her body felt fine. The tiredness she had before was barely there. She knew that her Aura wasn't full yet, probably on the yellow, so the maximum glyphs she felt like she could cast were about six or seven.

Weiss set a fire glyph below Ruby with the lowest amount of fire dust as possible. Just a tiny sprinkle from Myrtenaster. It should be lukewarm. To check whether she wasn't actually thawing her, Weiss laid a hand onto the glyph. It was indeed lukewarm.

She stepped a couple of meters back and surrounded Ruby with 4 giant gravity glyphs that were fully unloaded from Myrtenaster, making sure there were zero gaps between the glyphs. Weiss had always preferred using ice for these kinds of things, but since she had to keep Ruby warm, being picky would do more harm than good. Using ice dust would freeze her even more and might collapse on her when the glyphs are released. Same goes for earth dust on the latter. Gravity dust was the best option she had.

Feeling satisfied with what she had done, she spun around, facing Pyrrha. She took a deep breath and shoved her feelings aside. She had a duty to fulfill. Not as Weiss Schnee, the Schnee heiress, but as Weiss, a friend of Pyrrha.

Pyrrha smiled, watching what looked like resolve forming in Weiss' eyes. She did it. Weiss Schnee, the Ice Queen, was prepared to take her life. She knew just how difficult it was to kill a friend. Pyrrha hadn't killed any, but she had come close to it once. The massive guilt. The overwhelming regret. The permanent damage to her heart. She had cut contact with that person. Ignoring their messages and calls, not making eye contact with them, quickly changing topics when people asked about it; being hated on, accepting the hate.

Pyrrha Nikos had ran away from her problems. But not the small girl in front of her. No. This girl — her cold friend with a warm heart — Weiss Schnee, faced it head on and overcame it. Something the invincible warrior could not do. Pyrrha had nothing but utmost respect for her.

Weiss pointed her weapon towards her; ice dust revolving to primary.

"I'm ready."

Pyrrha nodded.

A giant light blue glyph appeared under her, with ice crystals quickly taking shape. They sizzled when they touched Pyrrha; or more specifically, when they touched the cracks. She could hear Weiss' grunt as more ice crystals formed around her, trying to wrap themselves around her burning body.

She couldn't even feel her remaining arm anymore. She knew that it had already vanished. Yet, it didn't matter to her now. Weiss Schnee was going to end her life. That was all that mattered.

Pyrrha closed her eyes and began to recite.

"For it is... in passing..."

More cracks tore through her body and crawled towards her face. It silenced her words and quickened the pace of the ice. Determined to complete the chant, Pyrrha Nikos continued, but not with spoken words; reminiscing about her time in Beacon.

" _... that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release my soul, and..."_

"...by your... shoulder... Protect... me..."

...

Nothing. It didn't work. The rumored Aura transfer theorized by a Schnee in the past didn't work.

Ah. So this was what failure felt like.

She couldn't feel anything anymore. Good. That was good. She didn't want to in the first place.

Only her face remained untouched. Pyrrha opened her eyes and stared at Weiss. She wanted to talk to her. She wanted to spill out everything she'd known to her. But she couldn't do that. Her throat was freezing. Only a few words could be squeezed out. But, for her, two words were more than enough.

"Thank... you..."

 _I hope the others will be safe._

The ice swallowed her whole. With a battle cry, Weiss plunged a white glowing Myrtenaster down deeply into her body and twisted the rapier.

And with that, Pyrrha Nikos — the junior champion, the invincible girl — vanished into dust with a smile; with a collapsing Weiss as the final sight of her life.

Weiss fell to her knees; Myrtenaster stabbed into the ground.

She did it.

She killed Pyrrha Nikos.

Weiss blinked.

What... Did she just...? 'I killed Pyrrha Nikos'?

Oh.

Oh god.

She killed Pyrrha Nikos.

Grief. Ecstasy. Loathing. Admiration. Amazement. Vigilance. Terror. Rage. The emotions she had withheld simultaneously came charging back. She clutched onto her aching chest. Her heart was beating a million times a second, as if it was about to explode in any given moment. Saliva, sweat and tears spilled out of her body. She couldn't control them. The mix of emotions swirling inside was too much to bear.

She tried to cram her feelings back into her ice-cold heart — back to what it was in the past — but she couldn't. Her emotions were too erratic. Chaotic. Her body thrashed around. Her body temperature rose. Her mouth was making all sorts of sounds. Groans, moans, gurgles, chuckles, laughter, shouts, screams, mumbles.

She wanted all of it to end. She wanted someone to come along and take away all her problems. She wanted to be whisked away like a princess.

She needed comfort.

"M-Mother..."

A pair of arms from behind wrapped around her torso. Her body jolted, but immediately relaxed at the sudden gesture. Her mouth stopped uttering nonsense. The hug felt... Nice. Kind. Cool to the touch. Cold.

...Very, very cold.

Her head shot up, only to see a literal ghost with very dead eyes.

Weiss' huntress instinct kicked into overdrive. She twisted her body back and kicked with all her might, hoping and expecting to make the ghost disappear. But what she hit was very solid, and flew a couple meters back. The unexpected hit caused Weiss to stagger back, but she somehow could regain her balance with little to no effort.

She felt oddly rejuvenated. Energy was coursing through her veins. Like some sort of sugar rush, even though she had made sure she hadn't eaten too many sweets. But Ruby pestered her to try out her homemade cookies. Well, dorm-made actually. She couldn't just go back home — Weiss knew it had to take at least some hours — make some cookies, then come all the way back to Beacon just to let Team RWBY try it out. No, it was a waste of time and effort.

Unfortunately for the rest of the team, Ruby's cookies were too sweet for any normal person to like. But they forced it down their throats anyway, because who could say no to a puppy-eyed Ruby? Not her. Not even she would stoop to that kind of coldness. It would destroy their friendship. And her own reputation.

Wait, why was she thinking about that?

She quickly scooted away and yanked out Myrtenaster to at least arm herself and prepare for some sort of attack. But when she did, she almost lost balance again. She had expected the ground to put up more of a resistance when she pulled her weapon out, but Weiss felt as though there wasn't any. As if gravity didn't even exist in that space. The rapier broke free from its solid prison and felt incredibly light.

Weiss knew that Myrtenaster was made to be light, but not _this_ light. She was sure, with this kind of weight Myrtenaster currently had, she could spin it around from the tip of the hilt with just two fingers with minimal effort. Weiss was even tempted to try it right then and there. But there were other important matters to attend to.

Like... Like...

Weiss stared ahead. A white body was lying down on the ground, unmoving. She remembered now. The corporeal ghost.

Her hand subconsciously clutched onto one of her sides, where the arms had touched. Was it just her or did it loosen its grip right when her body turned? Had it really touched her? Or was it just the coolness? Weiss dismissed the latter thought with the fact that she was able to physically hit it.

And why did it look so much like Pyrrha Nikos?

The white body twitched, as if it was responding to that question. It pushed itself off the ground with perfect movements and a perfect landing, facing Weiss with a blank stare. It seemed almost mechanical, performing such a flawless technique.

Was that the reason? Because it was a machine; a robot? A robot... like Penny. A robot with a soul that was completely white. Schnee white. And had lifeless eyes. And glows.

This wasn't a machine. This was a familiar. Her very own familiar.

She... she did it... She did it!

She successfully summoned Pyrrha Nikos!

Joy engulfed Weiss' entire frame as she jumped up and down like a child who had gotten her first birthday present.

She did it! She summoned her own familiar! Winter would be so proud! What would her sister do if she saw this? Pat her on the head? Compliment her? Throw a party? All of the above?

Weiss giggled gleefully. Winter would have a reason to come back to her! Then, she wouldn't have to be alone anymore. She wouldn't run away anymore. She would be by her side, teaching her more about her Semblance and treating her good. Treating her right. Unlike her father. ... And maybe her brother.

She would at least do that for her own little sister, right? Right?

...Right?

Ruby would be proud too! Yes! Ever since she told Ruby what her Semblance could potentially do, Ruby became absolutely ecstatic. She straight up interrogated her. The discussion they had was actually quite enjoyable. Nobody else had cared about her Semblance and weapon so greatly. Everyone was all Schnee this, Schnee that. But not her. Not Ruby. Not the clumsy dolt.

Speaking of which, where was she? Weiss could've sworn she was right beside her a few minutes ago... Fighting off Grimm... Then Cinder came... And...

Oh no.

Weiss turned to Ruby. All the glyphs she had set were gone. Her leader laid there alone. Unprotected. Vulnerable. And her familiar running straight for her.

Weiss immediately dashed towards Ruby, fearing the worst. Her aura was almost emptied. She couldn't cast her glyphs. No time should be wasted. Every breath was light, meeting with the crisp night air. Every movement was quick, fueling her determination to save. She loved it. She relished in it. Why was her body feeling so good?

Fortunately, she reached Ruby first. She wasn't out of breath like usual. Far from it, actually. Refreshing, even.

Weiss quickly positioned into her battle stance. She pointed Myrtenaster towards her approaching familiar; ice dust revolving to primary. She couldn't use her glyphs, but she could still use her own weapon. She could fight. Against Pyrrha Nikos. The invincible girl. The young champion. Her familiar.

Could she even stop it?

Suddenly, it shifted its body. It all happened in a blink. At the first moment it was dashing forward towards Ruby, but at the next, it was skidding to a halt. Its arms and legs were literally slammed into the ground. And it stopped...

… Right at the tip of Myrtenaster's blade.

It was just a small poke. The minuscule amount of impact moved Myrtenaster back by a tiny fraction. But to Weiss, it felt bigger. Much bigger. Like a stab. No, like a _plunge_.

Hard meeting soft. Metal meeting skin. Myrtenaster meeting flesh. Her killing Pyrrha. Again.

Weiss screamed.

She threw her weapon down. Loud, piercing clangs echoed into her eardrums. Within the echoes, she heard footsteps. She heard Pyrrha's last words. She heard Pyrrha apologizing. She heard Pyrrha laughing. Everything was jumbled up. Everything was a mess. Everything was a blur.

Luckily, it stopped after a few seconds. Weiss realized that she was still staring at her familiar. She took a quick proper look at it.

It was white. Pure. Fully intact. Not a single scratch. Zero flaws.

It was perfect. Like a godly being which took on the form of Pyrrha Nikos. Exactly like Pyrrha Nikos. Untouchable. Never faltering. Never losing. Unbeatable. Infamous. Invincible.

And here it was. Right in front of her. Able to perfectly obey her every command. Her very own warrior. Her very own servant. It exists all for her. For her and her only.

Her hand reached for its holy face. It moved its face down as she was trying to touch it. It felt soft. Smooth. Cold. Goosebumps filled her body. Too cold for her liking, but what could she do? Tell it to raise its body temperature?

Weiss chuckled at her own joke. Instead, she closed her eyes and imagined its face to be warm. It eventually did. Like a warm cup of coffee in the morning. An overfilled cup of coffee. That was poured all over her hand.

Something was wrong.

Confused, Weiss opened her eyes. A warm liquid was spilling onto her hand. It wasn't coffee. It was red. Leaking out of her familiar's eyes.

Weiss quickly pulled her hand back. Too quickly. The action threw her body back onto the ground. She lifted her shaking hand up to her face. The liquid was thick. Red. Dripping from the same hand that had touched the god figure.

Blood. It was blood.

Was it cursed? Was _she_ cursed? Did she stain her own perfect servant?

Weiss looked back at her familiar. It wasn't perfect anymore. It wasn't her own. Cracks were stretched all over the body. Both legs and an arm were missing. The middle of the body — the chest — had a huge dent on it.

It had been defiled. It was no longer pure. It... scared her. But those weren't the worst parts. No, it was the face.

It was _smiling_.

* * *

 **Yeah, I know… This is about a year late… I procrastinated a lot. And also rewrote most of this chapter, 'cause when I looked back, there were some pretty bad decisions that barely made sense. Well, it had lesser sense than this current one.**

 **This was a testing waters kind of fic. I didn't know whether it was too much or not. I wanted to go even further than** ** _Just a Photograph_** **. I don't have a beta, so reviews and criticism are really important.**

 **This isn't done yet FYI. Next chapter is gonna be the last chapter for this fanfic.**

 **By the way, I'm gonna write two short extra stories. One about Pyrrha getting Weiss to swear the oath to her, which would take place around the middle of Volume 2; and another about the notes about Summoning and how it came to be. The Pyrrha fanfic (currently named "How she knew", subject to change) is about halfway written, and the Team RWBY notes fanfic (currently named "Summoning", subject to change) is pretty bare bones as of now. Both** _ **can**_ **be read by itself without needing to read this fanfic.**


	3. chapter 3

**Hooray for yearly update! Also late Merry Christmas!**

 **Final chapter this time. (Nvm it's not, read the Author Notes at the end of the chapter)**

 **So while writing this chapter, I checked the weapon description for Miló and Akoúō again (to make sure I was using the right word for the spear / shield names), and apparently — according to the (fan) wiki— it's stated to be a javelin.**

 **In my opinion, the word "spear" looks and sounds better, since Pyrrha doesn't only use her weapon like a javelin. She uses it to attack and defend as well. So I'll be keeping it as the general term "spear". Also because it's weird to suddenly change it to "javelin". Continuity and all. Can't have that.**

 **WARNING: This chapter contains self harm and suicidal ideation. Please close this if you're not comfortable with those subjects. You have been warned.**

* * *

She ruined it. She ruined it all. A mere touch damaged her god.

… What had she _done_?!

It was all her fault. Her own fault. She did this. She made it worse. She should… She should…

She should atone. No, she should die.

With a bloodstained shaking hand, Weiss reached for Myrtenaster.

But once her hand tried to, something felt wrong. She couldn't grasp the hilt. Her fingers just wouldn't allow her to. Her hand shook too much. It couldn't fully grip it.

Nevertheless, she tried again. She had to do this. For atonement. For her own good. Myrtenaster dropped.

She tried yet again, this time from the bottom. It dropped. She tried from the dust canister. The sharp edges cut her palm, opening fresh light wounds, but she heeded it no mind. Her Aura was slowly healing them anyway. Dropped. She tried from the blade. Off balance. More cuts. Slow healing. Dropped. She tried with two hands. Shaky hands were its downfall. Dropped.

Dropped. Dropped. Dropped.

She couldn't. She couldn't do it. Why? Why can't she even hold her own weapon?

She reached for Myrtenaster once more, praying for it to at least be held by her hand. It moved. Away. As if it had a will of its own.

Had she sinned? Had she sinned that badly, that even Myrtenaster no longer accepted her?

... Yes.

Yes, that was it! This was punishment. Punishment for disgracing her god. It... was appropriate. Yes, she deserved it. Her desires can never be fulfilled. She can never redeem herself.

Yes... Yes. Yes?

Could she? She could take better care of her god. She could train to become stronger. It could forgive her. She would be fine.

Couldn't she? She was cursed. It couldn't be broken. There was no such thing as a Semblance that could take away curses. Semblance didn't work that way. If it was, it would be magic. There's no such thing as magic.

The inner battle was taking a toll on her mind and body. Emotions and rationality fought for control. She curled herself up, trying to solve her seemingly never-ending dilemma.

* * *

Qrow Branwen was sprinting towards the general direction of the quick once-appeared white light. He knew. He definitely knew Ruby had activated her silver eyes. A part of him was proud of his niece for using it this young, but he immediately shook off that feeling. It was screwed up to think of that.

He mostly knew how the silver eyes worked. He'd seen it first hand. One of the main triggers was intense negative emotions. Which meant that someone...

He silently cursed. How could he, the best uncle in the world, not be with his own niece when she's grieving?

He really wanted to just fly there. It was faster. Lesser energy and obstacles. But with all these injured people around him seeing a crazy man contrasting with the dark environment and running for his life, and then suddenly turn into a bird?

Yeah, he wasn't going to take any chances with that. Especially since Oz made sure nobody in Beacon would believe in magic with his "philosophical and psychological counseling".

He heard a bloodcurdling scream. He could recognize that kind of scream anywhere. It was a shout of fear. A cry for help. It wasn't Ruby's or Yang's. A third party then. Friend or foe?

"Screw it."

Shifting his body around, he twisted and charged into one of the damaged buildings, which he recognized as one of the Beacon storage rooms. A couple of chuckles could be heard, interrupted by harsh coughing. Qrow spotted a window that was facing away from the onlookers and dived straight through it, changing into a crow at the very last second and soaring through the air.

Finally.

He relished in the moment for a split second before focusing on the task at hand. He flapped his wings and fast as he could, desperately trying to find where Ruby was. Black and red... Not Raven... Black and red...

There! In front of Beacon tower! Black and red... and two whites?

Qrow dove down with wings tucked, letting gravity do its job and getting a clearer view. Ruby was lying down, face up; her hands on her stomach and her weapon beside her. Good. She was safe. The other two white figures were the younger Ice Queen in a fetus position and... a white glowing Pyrrha Nikos?

He tilted his head. That can't be it. Weren't summons supposed to be just Grimm? That's what the Ice Queen said. Did she lie? No, that wasn't it. Both of them had been in a drinking contest when she blurted it out. Specifically, she proudly boasted something like "I can summon most Grimm with my Semblance" and much more when he had asked what her biggest accomplishment was.

So the Schnee summonings weren't limited to just Grimm, huh...

But that wasn't his priority right now. He had to bring Ruby back home. Qrow shifted back to human form and landed a few meters away from Ruby. The white Pyrrha Nikos immediately straightened up and faced the experienced Huntsman, weapons literally phasing into existence. The Schnee mumbled louder.

Qrow raised his hands up. "Look, I'm not here for a fight. I just want to get my niece outta here."

It didn't move. Probably a good sign.

He slowly crept forward. It did the same, dragging its feet while maintaining a defending pose.

Well, if it was a battle of speed, then...

He dashed forward, arm outstretched. He was taller, longer and a lot more experienced. He definitely could reach Ruby first.

But right when he was about to touch Ruby, a spear the speed of a bullet silently launched towards his reaching hand. With the reflexes of a pro Huntsman, he quickly brought his hand back, landed his other hand onto the ground for support and punched the spear, breaking it into two.

Qrow then swiftly grabbed a scarily cold Ruby and carefully placed her on his back, making sure it wouldn't be uncomfortable for her. Before he could make a move, another spear was heading straight for his head, this time in the form of Pyrrha Nikos and her shield.

He had to admit, it was a pretty good tactic. Aiming for the head of a person that was carrying and trying to protect a victim.

But it had not known one thing. That the one it was fighting was armed with knowledge about the Schnee summoning. From what Winter had told him (albeit drunkenly), summons were aware of who is friend or foe, regardless of whether the user was unconscious or not. He was probably somewhere in the middle to the little Ice Queen.

With that fact in mind, Qrow Branwen tossed his niece up. True enough, it was trying to save her. Shield discarded, arms outstretched, palms up.

He unsheathed his sword with a squeeze on the lever and slashed horizontally. The summon dissolved instantly, the summoner's mumbles softened, and Ruby landed in his arms.

If she was conscious, she would immediately marvel at what he had done, and then grumble about her not being a kid with an adorable pout.

...If she was conscious.

With a heavy sigh, he heaved Ruby onto his back and kept her weapon on top of his own. Once everything was in place, he turned towards the lying Ice Queen. There wasn't any more mumbling. Probably unconscious.

He weighed his options. He could either bring Ruby back, pick Yang up and abandon her, or take her in and somehow give her back to that narcissistic Schnee, then pick Yang up and go back.

In terms of efficiency, the former sounded a lot better. He didn't have to physically see Jaques-ass, didn't need to do all the heavy lifting (in case Yang was unconscious too), and can get to his nieces' home much faster.

But in terms of morality and trust... He could help the Schnees out, bring her to Jaques, and maybe — just maybe— have a better relationship with the Schnees. Ruby and Yang would most likely be relieved and even think he's a more badass Huntsman. Swoop in to save the day, defeated one of the strongest abilities the Schnee had to offer and save their teammate. Heh. Textbook Huntsman. Ruby would love that.

He needed to become a good role model. Better than Raven. Better than Tai. Better than the Grimm Reaper.

...Better than Summer.

Qrow hummed. Looks like the decision was made.

He proceeded to pick the heiress and her weapon up. While hauling the heiress onto his other shoulder, he noticed that she wasn't unconscious. Well, not really. She was twitching a little. Her eyes were unfocused. Dead. It reminded him of himself when he grieved for Summer.

Qrow lightly patted the heiress' back. "Good luck, Ice Queen."

Just then, Qrow spotted an Atlesian Bullhead flying in the distance. He could recognize that plane anywhere. SDC. Specifically, Jacques' personal plane. Looks like he didn't need to find Jacques then.

He waved for the plane, but it didn't notice him. Shot his shotguns in the air. Still didn't notice. One would've thought Atlas technology would've picked that up by now. Well then, time to improvise.

He took the Ice Queen's dust rapier and analyzed it. He wasn't a weapons nerd like Ruby was, but he did know the basics of a weapon. He built his own after all.

There were 3 buttons on the hilt of the rapier. Qrow roughly guessed they were for activating the Dust, turning the revolver and reloading. The problem was which one was which. Just to be safe, he gripped the revolver with his free hand, covered the Dust capsules to prevent them from falling and pointed the rapier upwards.

He pressed all three buttons from left to right. The first one released the capsules, which he promptly kept in and stopped covering the revolver. The second one rotated the revolver to the right, from ice Dust to lightning Dust. The third was obvious. Lightning struck the night sky.

That finally got their attention.

The plane swerved and nosedived right at him the second it happened. Damn Jacques.

With a few large steps, Qrow got out of its strike range unscathed. The plane surprisingly had too, lifting up at the last second and making some kind of weird maneuver to safely land. Either the pilot needed a raise or Jaques was smarter than he thought.

The door opened and out came a storming Jacques-ass, with a gasping pilot slumped on the seat.

"What on Remnant were you _thinking_!?"

Qrow rolled his eyes. "I could say the same thing."

Jacques forcibly grabbed the rapier and the Schnee daughter by the hand. Qrow let him. As long as he isn't carrying extra baggage anymore.

"Mishandling a Schnee weapon _and_ abducting my daughter? You have some nerve, _Branwen_."

"You're welcome."

Jaques ignored the statement and continued ranting about the 'dangers of the situation' and something about Ironwood.

Qrow muted him out, turning his back and started to walk off. He didn't want to spend his precious time and effort dealing with him. "Whatever. You got your weapon and daughter back. I'm done here."

There was a moment of silence before Jacques loudly scoffed and grumbled his way back into the Bullhead. The word "Huntsmen" alongside some curses were repeatedly spat in disgust.

There goes the 'good relationship with the Schnees'. Why did he even think it would happen? It was impossible.

Sighing, Qrow briskly walked towards the school courtyard, as he had noticed a patch of yellow there while searching for Ruby in bird form. It wasn't much to go on to confirm that it was Yang, but it was worth a shot. It had the most amount of people in it too, so he could always ask one of them. Who knows, her burden might be lifted off once she sees Ruby safe with him.

But he didn't expect to see _that_.

Yang was weeping, repeatedly slamming her left fist onto the floor; blood leaking from her knuckles. But that wasn't the worst part. Her right arm... was lying on the floor, no longer attached to her torso. What was left was blood-soaked bandages neatly wrapped around the stump.

A boy with a pink strand of hair and a ginger girl — her friends, he presumed — were trying to comfort her with words and pats. It didn't look like it was working. Hopefully, his appearance would.

"Hey, firecracker."

All three of them stopped and turned towards him; Yang a bit later. The ones kneeling faced him in understandable confusion, most likely wondering who he was. But Yang's face sent a shiver up his spine. She looked at him with the most pained expression he had ever seen from her. Eyes bloodshot, tears ever-flowing. A wave of guilt churned in his stomach.

"Uncle Qrow..."

Qrow cringed at the utter despair Yang croaked out. He gulped it down and forced a smile.

"Look who I found~" Ignoring the obvious fake cheerfulness he uttered, he slid Ruby from his back to his arms.

"Ru... by...?" A glimmer of hope sparkled in Yang's eyes. Relief came crashing down. Thank the gods.

But that relief was cut short as Yang turned away; the hope in her eyes gone.

"No... I can't... I can't look at her. Not like... this. S-sorry, Uncle Qrow..." She flashed a weak smile.

... So this was what he looked like when Summer died. Not pretty.

"Come on, little dragon." He slid Ruby back onto his back and offered Yang his right hand. "Let's get you home."

This was how Tai did it, right?

Yang wiped off her tears and accepted his hand; her head low, muttering something about a 'Blake'.

Qrow turned to get her other arm, but there was no need. The ginger girl had already picked it up and was about to hand it to him.

"Thanks, kid." He grabbed the arm and held it in a position to not let Yang see it and trigger whatever awful memories it was associated with.

"Please help her." The ginger girl pleaded. The boy next to her nodded his head; his expression showing the same worry.

Qrow didn't know whether he could. He wasn't the best example of coping with bad situations. Nevertheless, he smiled reassuringly to them.

"Don't worry. We will."

* * *

Weiss could barely hear anything. There was only white noise ringing inside her head. Sometimes, if they were loud enough, she could hear people.

People talking. People shouting. Angrily. Anger. Hate. Worry. Love. Reassurance. Annoyance. So many voices. Too many voices.

Weiss closed her eyes. More voices. Panic. It was too much. She let the ringing take over.

Soon, the noise died down. She could hear breathing. She could feel the comfort of her own bed. But it didn't feel right. It was too comfortable. Her body fought and tried to adjust to this sudden comfort she hadn't gotten since... Since...

Weiss snapped her eyes open. Blue shades and tints. She was home. But not her home. It wasn't Beacon.

Beacon. Beacon Academy. She had fought to enroll there. She won and got stuck with a dolt as her leader. What was her name? What was her team? Team... Team... Team RWBY.

RWBY. Ruby. Ruby Rose. Her partner. The person who was childish, reckless, annoying, strong, bold, strategic, helped her, saved her, died for her.

No, that was wrong. Ruby had fainted. Who died? P... Py... Pyrrha! Yes, _Pyrrha_! She died for her. To become part of her semblance. To be summoned.

How did she die? Ah yes, she killed her. Weiss Schnee killed Pyrrha Nikos. Weiss killed Pyrrha. Weiss... Killed... Pyrrha...

Strange. There were no emotions. No anger, no sadness, nothing. She felt nothing. For Pyrrha, for Ruby, for herself. It felt off. She's a human being, so surely she should feel something.

She's human... right? Was she?

Her hand instinctively moved to her hip. Empty. Of course. She was lying down; Myrtenaster obviously wouldn't be on her.

But that arm's elbow hit something solid. Her head turned. Myrtenaster. It was on her bedside. Why? It was a safety hazard, having a bladed weapon so close to a person without them knowing. Who placed it there? Why? For what purpose?

In the end, she wouldn't know. She could only make guesses.

Well, since it was here...

She grabbed and held it to her face. The blade gleamed under the room light. She could hear its voice, screaming to be used. It laid beside her master for far too long. It wanted to stab. To slash. To unleash the Dust trapped inside. To be of use like the weapon it was meant to be.

Weiss accepted its hunger, sitting up to the bedside and touching her left breast. She could feel her heartbeat. Slow. Too slow. Unnatural.

Something was wrong. She thumped her chest. No pain. No change. She quickened her breathing and tore her nightgown off, clutching and digging her nails into her bare skin, hoping that the scratches would force the blood to pump faster. Still no change. Still a slow heartbeat.

Myrtenaster roared for attention, reminding her the original intention. Weiss grabbed its hilt with two hands and aimed its blade to her unnatural heart. Her breaths were getting even faster and heavier. Yet, her heart remained unchanged. It needed to change.

She needed to change it.

She didn't hear the door opening. She didn't hear a tray dropping. She didn't hear a voice shouting for her name.

All she heard was her weapon and her slow heartbeat getting louder and louder. Drums beating dramatically. Cheers. Support. Begs. Encouragements. Chants. One phrase.

"Do it! Do it! Do it!"

Weiss did it, plunging Myrtenaster into her chest. Into her heart.

"Miss Schnee!"

* * *

 **... On second thought, the next chapter will be the last chapter. More of an epilogue ish chapter with some truths revealed (also because I wanna write in the Schnee semblance origin).**

 **Will upload chapter 4 after uploading the two prequel fanfics. Better if you read it by upload order than chronological order. It'll feel more... complete. Or you can just read by chronological order after you finish by upload order. It's up to you.**

 **Actually, I want to know what you guys think. Should I upload the prequel fics in this same fanfic after this for less confusion, or separate them out as other fanfics? 1 or 2? A or B?**

 *****

 **Excerpt of Admin Weiss talking about this idea:**

 **[...you know I had this one story idea that would of been an alternative to what normally happened to Pyrrha when she was killed by Cinder. Cinder killed Pyrrha by besting her in combat, and shooting her in the heart execution style with an arrow.**

 **In my version, Cinder barely missed her heart, causing her to survive. Cinder walks out, assuming her dead. However, Pyrrha's survival is short-handed. She will die of blood loss before long. Pyrrha waits for an opportunity to escape, and staggers back outside, and rendezvous with Weiss, and Blake, and the others.**

 **However...she has an interesting request to Weiss. "Kill me". Pyrrha reviews Weiss' ability. Any opponent she kills, can be called forth as a Familiar. Pyrrha also recites word for word, the incantation she spoke to Jaune in the Emerald forest.**

 **There's a bit more to this, however. But this is just the basics.**

 **-Weiss (RWBY Academy), June 6th, 2017]**

 **Link:**

 **https/ facebook. com/ story/ graphql_permalink/ ?graphql_id= UzpfSTM0ODgxNzE3NTMyNjg0Mzo3NDI2NTU3NjU5NDI5ODA %3D**


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